Military officials in Sri Lanka say government troops have killed a senior Tamil Tiger rebel leader.

The
officials say Sabaratnam Selvathurai was killed within the past week
during fighting near the northern rebel stronghold of
Puthukkudiyiruppu.

Selvanthurai was in charge of the Tamil
Tigers' financial unit. If his death is confirmed, he would be the
second senior rebel leader to be killed in government attacks within
the past year-and-a-half.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka's government
says it will impose new security measures around the country in the
wake of a suicide bombing Tuesday on the island's southern tip. The
blast killed at least 14 people at a Muslim religious ceremony.

The government blames Tamil Tigers for the attack.

Government
officials have not provided details of their new security plans, but
the media ministry on Wednesday warned people to stay alert even in
areas far from the northern war zone.

Post and
Telecommunications Minister Mahinda Wijesekara is among those wounded
in Tuesday's bombing. Doctors treating the Cabinet minister say his
condition has improved but he remains in serious condition.

Sri
Lanka's government says it is in the "final phase" of an operation to
crush the Tamil Tigers, who have been fighting for an independent
homeland since 1983.

Aid agencies say tens of thousands of
civilians remain trapped alongside the rebels on a narrow strip of land
along Sri Lanka's northern coast.

The United Nations has accused the rebels of holding civilians as human shields, something the rebels deny.